10 Differences Between Ezra and Nehemiah

1. Ezra was a Hebrew priest and scribe. Nehemiah was a Jewish leader,  a cup bearer in the Persian court.

2. Ezra's work was re-establishing the Temple. Nehemiah's work was rebuilding the city walls.

3. When Ezra travelled from exile to Jerusalem he did not ask for guards, while Nehemiah specifically did and was given them.

4. Ezra arrived in Jerusalem in the seventh year of king Artaxerxes. Nehemiah arrived in the twentieth year of king Artaxerxes.

5. In leadership style, Ezra was perhaps more passive and Nehemiah more active in approach.

6. When Ezra formed a leadership committee, it consisted of two priests and two Levites but Nehemiah's was made up of a priest, a scribe, a Levite, and a layman.

7. Ezra pulled out his own hair. Nehemiah pulled out the hair of other people.

8. Ezra's list of names was compiled in Babylon before the people actually left. Nehemiah's list is from a later time.

9. When the two choirs marched on the walls when they were dedicated, Ezra was at the front of one and Nehemiah was at the back of the other.

10. Both prayed. Ezra's recorded prayer is longer than that of Nehemiah.

Banner UK 2017 Session 1 Jeff Kingswood

Banner Trustee and Canadian pastor Jeff Kingswood kicked off this years' conference by taking us to Ezra 7:10 For Ezra had devoted himself to the study and observance of the Law of the Lord, and to teaching its decrees and laws in Israel.
He was brief and had three main points. Ezra, he said, loved the Word and was a practitioner of the Word and one who taught it too. He was a Banner man!
He spoke of delight in the Word that studies it but that also leads to a practice of the Word that grows out of that study. If we are being transformed by the Word, it will show in our lives. I the first two are in place then we will also teach it as we should.

He quoted George Swinnock and Samuel Rutherford who said "Serve Christ, back him, let his cause be your cause; give not an hair-breadth of truth away; for it is not yours, but God's."

The little boy with a Z in his name

Read this free book made on StoryJumper

I did a Christmas book again this year for my grandsons.

The name Ezra

Ezra Koenig Thomas Rix, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>,

via Wikimedia Commons

We have a new grandson called Ezra

Ezra has a lot going for it: the strength of its heroic Biblical legacy, its quirky sound, and its fresh but familiar feel. Ezra is currently growing in popularity with parents seeking a fresh biblical name--it is now at Number 119, its highest ever, up 34 places in one year. According to the Bible, Ezra led a group of fifteen hundred Israelites out of slavery in Babylon and back to Jerusalem. There is also the poetry connection to Ezra Pound -- in addition to young Washington Post blogger Ezra Klein. Ezra Cornell was a founder of Western Union and co-founder of the university that bears his name and Ezra Jack Keats is a popular children's book author-illustrator. Both Paul Reiser and Taylor Hanson are dads to boys named Ezra, and there are Ezras to be found in Wilkie Collins's The Moonstone and Daniel Deronda by George Eliot. And let's not forget the band--Better Than Ezra--rising actor Ezra Miller, Vampire Weekend musician Ezra Koenig or the character Ezra Fitz from Pretty Little Liars.

Ezra is #1 on Nameberry

In the US it was 119th in 2014

In England 213th in 2014

In New Zealand 88th in 2014

See here

Lord's Day March 15 2015

Yesterday we looked at Ezra 9 and how to confess our sins, in the morning and at Matthew 5:33-37 and the important matter of honesty, in the evening. We started the day with one of our bitesize theology classes (on sin) and we had communion before the evening service (thinking about the Good Shepherd and how he laid down his life for the sheep). There were quite a few missing for various reasons but others were there who would not be at other times - an former church member and his daughter; relatives of a member; a young lady usually away at boarding school; an Iranian gentleman who comes from time to time, a Romanian from Brasov with no English newly arrived; a needy Portuguese lady who we haven't seen for ages, etc. It is hard to keep everyone in mind.

Lord's Day March 8 2015

I have been in Aberystwyth this week and so I am behind with blogging. We began last Sunday with a  fairly well attended bitesize theology class on the Trinity. The morning sermon was from Ezra 8 and felt a little apprehensive about it again, though not as much as the previous week. I was able to make what were hopefully helpful points about church life in exegetically defensible ways. I spoke of a church preparing itself to serve by gathering the people and their leaders, of the need for humiliation and prayer and a fresh consecration of ourselves and all we have, assuring of protection and safety as we serve and worship. A couple in the church kindly entertained us for lunch and then we all got together before the evening service for our regular tea time. For various reasons we were mire than usual (I counted 18 - we are rarely that many). We are having a week of prayer this week and so we spent  a short time in prayer until we were interrupted a little sooner than anticipated by the arrival of some visitors. In the evening we looked at divorce from Matthew 5:31, 31 - always a difficult subject but hopefully I said something sound and sensible.

 

Lord's Day March 1 2015

I was a little out of sorts heading off to church on Sunday morning (I'm not sure what it was - tiredness, knowing certain people would be missing including an unwell son, not preaching in the evening, pressure to prepare being away three days last week, lack of illustrations in the sermon??). Anyway we started with communion and that was okay (I focused on Mark 10:45). The morning sermon was on Ezra 7 and it seemed to be okay. There were people missing as I expected but we were great full and there was a new local couple there. Nice to have all my sons home at different points in the afternoon. Numbers were lower in the evening. Sihle Xulu preached competently, looking at the transfiguration. An Albanian man tuned up. he appears to have been baptised by the Mormons. I gave him an English Bible and a copy of Ultimate Questions in Albanian (I was glad  to find one around. Our church paid for the first printing many years ago I believe). There is no point in letting feeling down interfere with the work. It does make it harder though.

Lord's Day February 8 2015

It was a good day yesterday. A few were away (for good reasons) but their places were mostly taken by various visitors, who, as ever, we are hoping to see again. We'll see. A South African LTS student is with me on placement for three weeks so I had him lead in prayer and read the Scriptures. We had lunch together, as we do every other month, and (taking a leaf from Nigel Graham at Warboys' book) I took opportunity to interview him briefly.

The preaching continued in Ezra (on outside opposition) and the Sermon on the Mount. Matthew 5:17-20 is a controversial passage and not easy but I hope I nailed it. Perhaps I should have taken on the first of the antitheses too by way of illustration.

One fly in the ointment was the no show of one woman who has been quite often in the past but for whom it is now rather difficult to be present and another who I bumped into the day before. She is a troubled soul and wants to come but also didn't make it this time.

Lord's Day February 1 2015

It's a new month and so we began with communion, thinking about the earthquake and the splitting rocks at the time of the crucifixion. We then turned to the next instalment of Ezra - Ezra 3. We considered the centrality of Christ's atonement and of the church. It was quite fresh and people enjoyed that. They seem convinced that Ezra really is a good book to be exploring. I hope so. We had a good number there and six children, which is a lot for us. In the evening we were back to the Sermon on the Mount, this time the salt and light section, which I tried to deal with in a fresh way again, sticking close to the text and not relying on pat commentary too much. I should have said too that we were welcoming in new members at the communion. That is always encouraging.

Lord's Day January 25 2015

A little behind here but had a god day on Sunday as we carried on with Ezra (Era 2 - not an easy passage but full of thought provoking detail regarding mission) and Matthew 5 (the second four beatitudes - always challenging to consider). We had good varied congregations am and pm, though as ever some were missing. A local lady turned up am who said she had converted from Islam. I do hope we see her again. Visitors often come and then disappear. We have often thought of how we can keep closer tabs on people but in the end we can only hope to get to know people over a period of time. I can think of at least four visitors in recent weeks who we haven't seen now for a week or two. You often do not know quite why they have disappeared. (There was a time when my wife was paranoid that it might be her cooking - as if).

Lord's Day January 19 2015

We got back to things in Childs Hill yesterday as I began two new series, morning and evening. In the morning we started on Ezra, looking at Chapter 1. I think I have preached on Ezra before, but back in the nineties so I have no record on computer of what I preached. It is good to be back in an Old Testament history book. I spoke about God's providence and our duty. In the evening we began on the Sermon on the Mount. I say new series. I actually started on Matthew the Christmas before last and covered the first four chapters. I have been through Matthew (and Mark) in the past but want to go through all four Gospels on a regular basis. My former assistant went through the beatitudes one by one a little while ago so I will not be too slow with this. I covered the first half this time and hope to cover the second half next time. Numbers were typical (around 50 in the morning and half that in the evening). One or two were missing. There was just one visitor - in the evening. In the evening we had communion. I read from Isaiah 53 and spoke about penal substitutionary atonement.